New Kansas secretary of state critical of Minnesota's Mark Ritchie

As Minnesota's Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is sworn in for the second time, Stateline.org reports on the changing role of the job and highlights the new conservative secretary of state of Kansas ... who specifically criticizes Ritchie, calls the 2008 Al Franken-Norm Coleman recount a "pseudo-election" and blames the Minnesota election official for "manipulating the process to pacify a leftist mob.”

Kris Kobach, who the article credits as the "intellectual architect" of Arizona's tough immigration law, is worth learning about because some of his initiatives, such as voter photo ID, are sure to find their way into this legislative session's Minnesota GOP agenda.

Voter photo ID can hardly be termed the initiative of Kris Kobach. It's a pretty standard plank of conservatives that has been around for quite some time. Calling that, or any other issue, "his initiatives" is a bit misleading, unless the intent is to lump them all in with someone wishing to be painted as extreme or controversial.

Apparently the new secretary of state for Kansas did not bother to read the Minnesota Supreme Court decision that settled the Coleman election contest in the Minnesota Senate race in 2008, or he would not have offered such provably false assertions.

It's one thing for an average citizen to stew in his own ignorance about how elections get run, but it is more than a little disturbing that the elected official in charge of Kansas electoral processes has chosen ignorance over evidence.

Coming from a state that struggles to recognize the science of evolution, it may not be surprising, but it is still a real problem for Kansas citizens. Too bad for them

The most discouraging aspect to this situation is the lack of an effective means to combat the continuing lies about the Coleman/Franken election. These lies undermine voter confidence in all elections so no elected person is considered legitimate. No one who repeats the "stolen" election myth is likely to accept any facts including the MN Supreme Court opinion. And reasonable people in the GOP seem to be afraid to confront any of these extremists. Unfortunately this is just one example of creating an alternate reality where taxes on $5 million dollar estates are considered unfair to most people (Don't we wish we all had $5 million estates!)) and prudent end of life discussions with a doctor are "death panels".